Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 464 Shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA cut its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 464 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $2,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at $1,465,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 108.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 83,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,192,000 after purchasing an additional 43,710 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 99.6% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,627,000 after acquiring an additional 8,837 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,951,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,870,556,000 after acquiring an additional 110,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 72.7% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,950 shares in the last quarter. 90.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, President Christopher John Perry sold 31,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.37, for a total transaction of $6,540,242.43. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 67,215 shares in the company, valued at $13,938,374.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, President Christopher John Perry sold 31,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.37, for a total value of $6,540,242.43. Following the sale, the president now owns 67,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,938,374.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.11, for a total transaction of $5,227,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 200,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,963,149.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,386 shares of company stock worth $28,112,824. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $239.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.33.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Price Performance

NYSE:BR opened at $213.75 on Thursday. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $166.73 and a 52 week high of $223.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.26 billion, a PE ratio of 36.48 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $211.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.82.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 10.73% and a return on equity of 42.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. This is a positive change from Broadridge Financial Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 12th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s payout ratio is 60.07%.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Profile

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions.